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TJ-fp  SOUVENIR^EDITION" 

COLVMBIAN  ODE 


HARRIET  i^ 


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77}eCOL\mBIANOD 


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COLVMBIAN  ODE 

B^HARpiEr  MONRPE 


Designs  by 
WILLH 
BRADL 
EY 


CHICAGO 

WIByiNGWAY&CD 

J^DCCCXCm 


COPYRIGHT,    1893,    BY 
HARRIET   MONROE 


NOTE 

The  Coltimhian  Ode  was  written  at  the  request  of 
the  Joint  Committee  on  Ceremonies  of  the  World's  Co- 
lumbian Exposition,  accepted  by  that  honorable  body. 
and  delivered  on  the  four  hundredth  anniversary  of 
the  discovery  of  America,  October  21,  1892,  before  an 
audience  of  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  persons , 
during  the  dedicatory  ceremonies  in  the  building  for 
Manufactures  and  Liberal  Arts.  By  authority  of  the 
Committee,  Mr.  Theodore  Thomas,  DireMor  of  Music, 
requested  Prof  George  W.  Chadwick,  of  Boston,  to 
set  to  music  the  lyric  passages.  Prof.  Chadwick  ad- 
mirably fulfilled  the  obligation.  The  two  songs,  com- 
tnencing,  ' '  Over  the  wide  unknown,"  and ' '  Columbia  ! 
men  beheld  thee  rise,"  and  the  passage  of  eight  lines, 
commencing,  "  Lo!  clan  on  clan,  The  etnbattled 
nations  gather  to  be  one," — a  passage  which  the  com- 
poser selected  for  his  finale, — were  given  by  a  chorus  of 
five  thousand  voices,  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  great 
orchestra  and  military  bands. 


7?^eCOLV/WBlAN  ODE 


OLUMBIA!    on  thy  brow  are 
dewy  flowers 
Plucked  from  wide  prairies  and 
from  mighty  hills. 
Lo !  toward  this  day  have  led  the 
steadfast  hours. 
Now  to  thy  hope  the  world  its  beaker  fills. 
The  old  earth  hears  a  song  of  blessed  themes, 
And  lifts  her  head  from  a  deep  couch  of  dreams. 
Her  queenly  nations,  elder-born  of  Time, 

Troop  from  high  thrones  to  hear. 
Clasp  thy  strong  hands,  tread  with  thee  paths  sublime, 
Lovingly  bend  the  ear. 


Spain,  in  the  broidered  robes  of  chivalry, 

Comes  with  slow  foot  and  inward-brooding  eyes. 
Bow  to  her  banner!  't  was  the  first  to  rise 
Out  of  the  dark  for  thee. 
And  England,  royal  mother,  whose  right  hand 

Molds  nations,  whose  white  feet  the  ocean  tread. 
Lays  down  her  sword  on  thy  beloved  strand 

To  bless  thy  wreathed  head ; 
Hearing  in  thine  her  voice,  bidding  thy  soul 
Fulfil  her  dream,  the  foremost  at  the  goal. 
And  France,  who  once  thy  fainting  form  upbore, 
Brings  beauty  now  where  strength  she  brought  of  yore. 
France,  the  swift-footed,  who  with  thee 
Gazed  in  the  eyes  of  Liberty, 
And  loved  the  dark  no  more. 


Around  the  peopled  world 

Bright  banners  are  unfurled. 
The  long  procession  winds  from  shore  to  shore. 

The  Norseman  sails 

Through  icy  gales 
To  the  green  Vineland  of  his  long-ago. 
Russia  rides  down  from  realms  of  sun  and  snow. 


Germany  casts  afar 
Her  iron  robes  of  war, 
And  strikes  her  harp  with  thy  triumphal  song. 

Italy  opens  wide  her  epic  scroll, 
In  bright  hues  blazoned,  with  great  deeds  writ  long, 

And  bids  thee  win  the  kingdom  of  the  soul. 
And  the  calm  Orient,  wise  with  many  days, 
From  hoary  Palestine  to  sweet  Japan 
Salutes  thy  conquering  youth ; 
Bidding  thee  hush  while  all  the  nations  praise, 
Know,  though  the  world  endure  but  for  a  span, 
Deathless  is  truth. 
Lo !  unto  these  the  ever-living  Past 

Ushers  a  mighty  pageant,  bids  arise 
Dead  centuries,  freighted  with  visions  vast. 
Blowing  dim  mists  into  the  Future's  eyes. 
Their  song  is  all  of  thee, 
Daughter  of  mystery. 


Alone!  alone! 
Behind  wide  walls  of  sea ! 
And  never  a  ship  has  flown 
A  prisoned  world  to  free. 


Fair  is  the  sunny  day 

On  mountain  and  lake  and  stream, 
Yet  wild  men  starve  and  slay, 

And  the  young  earth  lies  adream. 
Long  have  the  dumb  years  passed  with  vacant  eyes, 
Bearing  rich  gifts  for  nations  throned  afar, 
Guarding  thy  soul  inviolate  as  a  star. 
Leaving  thee  safe  with  God  till  man  grow  wise. 
At  last  one  patient  heart  is  born 
Fearless  of  ignorance  and  scorn. 
His  strong  youth  wasteth  at  thy  sealed  gate  — 

Kings  will  not  open  to  the  untrod  path. 
His  hope  grows  sere  while  all  the  angels  wait. 
The  prophet  bows  under  the  dull  world's  wrath. 
Until  a  woman  fair 
As  morning  lilies  are 
Brings  him  a  jeweled  key  — 
And  lo !  a  world  is  free. 
Wide  swings  the  portal  never  touched  before, 
Strange  luring  winds  blow  from  an  unseen  shore. 
Toward  dreams  that  cannot  fail 
He  bids  the  three  ships  sail. 
While  man's  new  song  of  hope  rings  out  against  the 
gale. 


VER  the  wide  unknown, 

Far  to  the  shores  of  Ind, 
On  through  the  dark  alone, 

Like  a  feather  blown  by  the  wind  : 
Into  the  west  away. 
Sped  by  the  breath  of  God, 
Seeking  the  clearer  day 

Where  only  his  feet  have  trod: 
From  the  past  to  the  future  we  sail; 

We  slip  from  the  leash  of  kings. 
Hail,  spirit  of  freedom  —  hail ! 

Unfurl  thine  impalpable  wings ! 
Receive  us,  protect  us,  and  bless 

Thy  knights  who  brave  all  for  thee. 
Though  death  be  thy  soft  caress, 

By  that  touch  shall  our  souls  be  free. 
Onward  and  ever  on, 

Till  the  voice  of  despair  is  stilled. 
Till  the  haven  of  peace  is  won. 
And  the  purpose  of  God  fulfilled ! 


O  strange,  divine  surprise! 
Out  of  the  dark  man  strives  to  rise, 
And  struggles  inch  by  inch  with  toil  and  tears ; 
Till,  lo !  God  stoops  from  his  supernal  spheres, 
And  bares  the  glory  of  his  face. 
Then  darkness  flees  afar, 
This  earth  becomes  a  star  — 
Man  leaps  up  to  the  lofty  place. 
We  ask  a  little  —  all  is  given. 
We  seek  a  lamp  —  God  grants  us  heaven. 
So  these  who  dared  to  pass  beyond  the  pale 

For  an  idea  tempting  the  shrouded  seas, 
Sought  but  Cathay.      God  bade  their  faith  prevail 

To  find  a  world  —  blessed  his  purposes ! 
The  hero  knew  not  what  a  virgin  soul 

Laughed  through  glad  eyes  when  at  her  feet  he  laid 
The  gaudy  trappings  of  man's  masquerade. 
She  who  had  dwelt  in  forests,  heard  the  roll 
Of  lakes  down-thundering  to  the  sea. 
Beheld  from  gleaming  mountain  heights 
Two  oceans  playing  with  the  lights 
Of  eve  and  morn  —  ah !  what  would  she 
With  all  the  out-worn  pageantry 
Of  purple  robes  and  heavy  mace  and  crown? 
Smiling  she  casts  them  down. 


Unfit  her  young  austerity 
Of  hair  unbound  and  strong  limbs  bare  and  brown. 


Yet  they  who  dare  arise 

And  meet  her  stainless  eyes 
Forget  old  loves,  though  crowned  queens  these  be ; 

And  whither  her  winged  feet  fare 

They  follow  though  death  be  there  — 
So  sweet,  so  fleet,  so  goddess-pure  is  she. 
Her  voice  is  like  deep  rivers,  that  do  flow 

Through  forests  bending  low. 
Her  step  is  softest  moonlight,  that  doth  force 

The  ocean  to  its  course. 
Gentle  her  smile,  for  something  in  man's  face, 

World-worn,  time- weary,  furrowed  deep  with  tears, 
Thrills  her  chaste  heart  with  a  more  tender  grace. 
Softly  she  smoothes  the  wrinkles  from  his  brow, 

Wrought  by  the  baleful  years. 
Smiles  sunshine  on  the  hoar  head,  whispers  low 
New  charges  from  the  awakened  will  of  Truth  — 
Words  all  of  fire,  that  thrill  his  soul  with  youth. 
Not  with  his  brother  is  man's  battle  here. 

The  challenge  of  the  earth,  that  Adam  heard. 
His  love  austere  breathes  in  his  eager  ear. 
13 


And  lo!  the  knight  who  warred  at  love's  command, 
And  scarred  the  face  of  Europe,  sheathes  his  sword, 
Hearing  from  untaught  lips  a  nobler  word, 

Taking  new  weapons  from  an  unstained  hand. 

With  axe  and  oar,  with  mallet  and  with  spade. 

She  bids  the  hero  conquer,  unafraid 

Though  cloud- veiled  Titans  be  his  lordly  foes  — 

Spirits  of  earth  and  air,  whose  wars  brook  no  repose. 

For  from  far-away  mountain  and  plain. 

From  the  shores  of  the  sunset  sea. 
The  unwearying  rulers  complain,  complain, 
And  throng  from  the  wastes  to  defend  their  reign. 

Their  threatened  majesty. 
The  low  prairies  that  lie  abloom 

Sigh  out  to  the  summer  air : 
Shall  our  dark  soil  be  the  tomb 

Of  the  flowers  that  rise  so  fair? 
Shall  we  yield  to  man's  disdain, 
And  nourish  his  golden  grain  ? 
We  will  freeze  and  burn  and  snare. 
Ah!   bid  him  beware!  beware! 
And  the  forests,  heavy  and  dark  and  deep 
With  the  shadows  of  shrouded  years. 


In  a  murmurous  voice,  out  of  age-long  sleep, 
Ask  the  winds :   What  creature  rude 
Would  storm  our  solitude? 

Hath  his  soul  no  fears,  no  tears? 
The  prone  rivers  lift  up  their  snow-crowned  heads, 
Arise  in  wrath  from  their  rock-hewn  beds. 
And  roar :   We  will  ravage  and  drown 
Ere  we  float  his  white  ships  down. 
And  the  lakes,  from  a  mist 
Of  amethyst, 
Call  the  storm-clouds  down,  and  grow  ashen  and 
brown. 
And  all  the  four  winds  wail : 
Our  gales  shall  make  him  quail. 
By  blinding  snow,  by  burning  sun 
His  strength  shall  be  undone. 
Then  men  in  league  with  these  — 
Brothers  of  wind  and  waste  — 
Hew  barbs  of  flint,  and  darkly  haste 
From  sheltering  tents  and  trees ; 
And  mutter :   Away !  away ! 
Ye  children  of  white-browed  day! 
Who  dares  profane  our  wild  gods'  reign 
We  torture  and  trap  and  slay. 


Child  of  the  hght,  the  shadows  fall  in  vain. 
Herald  of  God,  in  vain  the  powers  conspire.. 
Armed  with  truth's  holy  cross,  faith's  sacred  fire, 
Though  often  vanquished,  he  shall  rise  again. 
Nor  rest  till  the  wild  lords  of  earth  and  air 
Bow  to  his  will,  his  burdens  glad  to  bear. 
The  angels  leave  him  not  through  the  long  strife, 
But  sing  large  annals  of  their  own  wide  life, 
Luring  him  on  to  freedom.     On  that  field. 
From  giants  won,  shall  man  be  slave  to  man  ? 

Lo!  clan  on  clan, 
The  embattled  nations  gather  to  be  one, 
Clasp  hands  as  brothers  'neath  Columbia's  shield, 
Upraise  her  banner  to  the  shining  sun. 
Along  her  blessed  shore 

One  heart,  one  song,  one  dream  — 
Man  shall  be  free  forevermore. 
And  love  shall  be  supreme. 


When  dreaming  kings,  at  odds  with  swift-paced  time. 

Would  strike  that  banner  down, 
A  nobler  knight  than  ever  writ  or  rhyme 

With  fame's  bright  wreath  did  crown 


Through  armed  hosts  bore  it  till  it  floated  high 
Beyond  the  clouds,  a  light  that  cannot  die ! 
Ah,  hero  of  our  younger  race ! 

Great  builder  of  a  temple  new ! 
Ruler,  who  sought  no  lordly  place! 

Warrior,  who  sheathed  the  sword  he  drew ! 
Lover  of  men,  who  saw  afar 
A  world  unmarred  by  want  or  war, 
Who  knew  the  path,  and  yet  forbore 
To  tread,  till  all  men  should  implore ; 
Who  saw  the  light,  and  led  the  way 
Where  the  gray  world  might  greet  the  day ; 
Father  and  leader,  prophet  sure, 
Whose  will  in  vast  works  shall  endure, 
How  shall  we  praise  him  on  this  day  of  days. 
Great  son  of  fame  who  has  no  need  of  praise  ? 


How  shall  we  praise  him  ?     Open  wide  the  doors 
Of  the  fair  temple  whose  broad  base  he  laid. 
Through  its  white  halls  a  shadowy  cavalcade 
Of  heroes  moves  o'er  unresounding  floors  — 
Men  whose  brawned  arms  upraised  these  columns 
high, 


And  reared  the  towers  that  vanish  in  the  sky  — 
The  strong  who,  having  wrought,  can  never  die. 


And  lo!  leading  a  blessed  host  comes  one 

Who  held  a  warring  nation  in  his  heart ; 

Who  knew  love's  agony,  but  had  no  part 
In  love's  delight ;  whose  mighty  task  was  done 
Through  blood  and  tears  that  we  might  walk  in  joy, 
And  this  day's  rapture  own  no  sad  alloy. 
Around  him  heirs  of  bliss,  whose  bright  brows  wear 
Palm-leaves  amid  their  laurels  ever  fair. 

Gaily  they  come,  as  though  the  drum 
Beat  out  the  call  their  glad  hearts  knew  so  well. 

Brothers  once  more,  dear  as  of  yore, 
Who  in  a  noble  conflict  nobly  fell. 
Their  blood  washed  pure  yon  banner  in  the  sky. 
And  quenched  the  brands  laid  'neath  these  arches 

high— 
The  brave  who,  having  fought,  can  never  die. 


Then  surging  through  the  vastness  rise  once  more 
The  aureoled  heirs  of  light,  who  onward  bore 


Through  darksome  times  and  trackless  realms  of  ruth 

The  flag  of  beauty  and  the  torch  of  truth. 

They  tore  the  mask  f'-om  the  foul  face  of  wrong; 

Even  to  God's  mysteries  they  dared  aspire ; 

High  in  the  choir  they  lit  yon  altar-fire, 
And  filled  these  aisles  with  color  and  with  song : 
The  ever-young,  the  unfallen,  wreathing  for  time 

Fresh  garlands  of  the  seeming- vanished  years ; 
Faces  long  luminous,  remote,  sublime, 

And  shining  brows  still  dewy  with  our  tears. 
Back  with  the  old  glad  smile  comes  one  we  knew  — 

We  bade  him  rear  our  house  of  joy  to-day. 

But  Beauty  opened  wide  her  starry  way. 
And  he  passed  on.      Bright  champions  of  the  true. 
Soldiers  of  peace,  seers,  singers  ever  blest  — 
From  the  wide  ether  of  a  loftier  quest 
Their  winged  souls  throng  our  rites  to  glorify  — 
The  wise  who,  having  known,  can  never  die. 


Strange  splendors  stream  the  vaulted  aisles  along  - 
To  these  we  loved  celestial  rapture  clings. 
And  music,  borne  on  rhythm  of  rising  wings. 

Floats  from  the  living  dead,  whose  breath  is  song. 


Columbia,  my  country,  dost  thou  hear?    ^ 

Ah !  dost  thou  hear  the  songs  unheard  of  Time  ? 
Hark !  for  their  passion  trembles  at  thine  ear. 

Hush!  for  thy  soul  must  heed  their  call  sublime. 
Across  wide  seas,  unswept  by  earthly  sails, 

Those  strange  sounds  draw  thee  on,  for  thou  shalt  be 
Leader  of  nations  through  the  autumnal  gales 
That  wait  to  mock  the  strong  and  wreck  the  free. 
Dearer,  more  radiant  than  of  yore, 

Against  the  dark  I  see  thee  rise ; 
Thy  young  smile  spurns  the  guarded  shore 
And  braves  the  shadowed  ominous  skies. 
And  still  that  conquering  smile  who  see 
Pledge  love,  life,  service  all  to  thee. 
The  years  have  brought  thee  robes  most  fair  — 

The  rich  processional  years, 
And  filleted  thy  shining  hair, 
And  zoned  thy  waist  with  jewels  rare. 

And  whispered  in  thine  ears 
Strange  secrets  of  God's  wondrous  ways. 
Long  hid  from  human  awe  and  praise. 

For  lo !  the  living  God  doth  bare  his  arm. 

No  more  he  makes  his  house  of  clouds  and  gloom. 
Lightly  the  shuttles  move  within  his  loom ; 


Unveiled  his  thunder  leaps  to  meet  the  storm. 
From  God's  right  hand  man  takes  the  powers  that  sway 

A  universe  of  stars. 
He  bows  them  down ;   he  bids  them  go  or  stay ; 

He  tames  them  for  his  wars. 
He  scans  the  burning  paces  of  the  sun, 
And  names  the  invisible  orbs  whose  courses  run 

Through  the  dim  deeps  of  space. 
He  sees  in  dew  upon  a  rose  impearled 
The  swarming  legions  of  a  monad  world 
Begin  life's  upward  race. 

Voices  of  hope  he  hears 
Long  dumb  to  his  despair, 

And  dreams  of  golden  years 
Meet  for  a  world  so  fair. 
For  now  Democracy  doth  wake  and  rise 

From  the  sweet  sloth  of  youth. 
By  storms  made  strong,  by  many  dreams  made  wise. 

He  clasps  the  hand  of  Truth. 
Through  the  armed  nations  lies  his  path  of  peace. 

The  open  book  of  knowledge  in  his  hand. 
Food  to  the  starving,  to  the  oppressed  release, 
And  love  to  all  he  bears  from  land  to  land. 
Before  his  march  the  barriers  fall, 
The  laws  grow  gentle  at  his  call. 


His  glowing  breath  blows  far  away 
The  fogs  that  veil  the  coming  day  — 
That  wondrous  day 
When  earth  shall  sing  as  through  the  blue  she  rolls 
Laden  with  joy  for  all  her  thronging  souls. 
Then  shall  Want's  call  to  Sin  resound  no  more 

Across  her  teeming  fields.     And  Pain  shall  sleep, 
Soothed  by  brave  Science  with  her  magic  lore, 

And  War  no  more  shall  bid  the  nations  weep. 
Then  the  worn  chains  shall  slip  from  man's  desire, 
And  ever  higher  and  higher 
His  swift  foot  shall  aspire ; 
Still  deeper  and  more  deep 
His  soul  its  watch  shall  keep. 
Till  Love  shall  make  the  world  a  holy  place, 
Where  Knowledge  dares  unveil  God's  very  face. 

Not  yet  the  angels  hear  life's  last  sweet  song. 

Music  unutterably  pure  and  strong 

From  earth  shall  rise  to  haunt  the  peopled  skies 

When  the  long  march  of  Time, 
Patient  in  birth  and  death,  in  growth  and  blight, 
Shall  lead  man  up  through  happy  realms  of  light 

Unto  his  goal  sublime. 


OLUMBIA!     Men  beheld  thee  rise 

A  goddess  from  the  misty  sea. 
Lady  of  joy,  sent  from  the  skies, 
The  nations  worshiped  thee. 
Thy  brows  were  flushed  with  dawn's 
first  Ught 

By  foamy  waves  with  stars  bedight 
Thy  blue  robe  floated  free. 

Now  let  the  sun  ride  high  o'erhead, 

Driving  the  day  from  shore  to  shore. 
His  burning  tread  we  do  not  dread, 

For  thou  art  evermore 
Lady  of  love  whose  smile  shall  bless. 
Whom  brave  deeds  win  to  tenderness. 

Whose  tears  the  lost  restore. 

Lady  of  hope  thou  art.     We  wait 

With  courage  thy  serene  command. 
Through  unknown  seas,  toward  undreamed  fate, 

We  ask  thy  guiding  hand. 
On!    though  sails  quiver  in  the  gale!  — 
Thou  at  the  helm,  we  cannot  fail. 

On  to  God's  time-veiled  strand! 

Lady  of  beauty !  thou  shalt  win 

Glory  and  power  and  length  of  days. 
The  sun  and  moon  shall  be  thy  kin, 

The  stars  shall  sing  thy  praise. 
All  hail !  we  bring  thee  vows  most  sweet 
To  strew  before  thy  winged  feet. 

Now  onward  be  thy  ways ! 


